


you'll put all those old faerie tales to shame

by meathermac



Category: Not Another D&D Podcast (Podcast)
Genre: Brother and sister bonding, Gen, i just think that the kindleaf kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:34:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26078056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meathermac/pseuds/meathermac
Summary: She’d never say it out loud, but she’d trade the world in if it meant that Erlin got to have a normal life.
Relationships: Egwene Kindleaf & Erlin Kindleaf
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	you'll put all those old faerie tales to shame

**Author's Note:**

> i just think that the kindleaf kids, 
> 
> anyways i just relistened to episode 20 (the Smooch) and i just got to thinking about how much i adore egwene and erlin kindleaf and this just. happened
> 
> shoutout to the naddcord and sam/blazeofglory for beta'ing!!!

Egwene’s not a very good cook. 

You’d think that after 19 years of life and 3 or so years of living without her parents, she would have picked up some, if not  _ any, _ cooking skills, but she could still burn water if she tried hard enough. 

Back when she was 16 and her parents had  _ just _ died and she had only recently become a Green Knight, she figured she had enough excuses not to learn how to cook. 

Erlin didn’t. He was 12 years old, not very good at fighting, and he wanted to do something for his sister and his grandmother to show them that he was important and good enough for them to let him stick around. 

(Not like they ever would have let him leave. Egwene would join the Chosen before she let anyone hurt her stupid younger brother.)

Even so, it’s one of those quiet nights at Nana Kindleaf’s and Erlin is set to be home from Moonstone any minute now, so Egwene figures she’ll try and cook  _ something _ just so that they can hang out for a little bit when he gets back. 

Nana’s already asleep--it’s past seven--so she resigns herself to making some sandwiches for them to eat, and she wonders what he’s been up to in Moonstone. 

He was going with Beverly, after all. She’ll have lost the bet she made with herself if he comes back and he’s still not figured anything out. 

Egwene doesn’t have a whole lot of friends, really--well, actually, she doesn’t have any friends. Being the youngest Green Knight ever will do that to you.

So maybe she’s a little bit jealous of her younger brother and his best friends, and maybe she’s a little bit sad that she doesn’t get to do things like go on campouts with her closest friends and it’s stupid, really, because she should be grateful she’s been given so much and that she’s as  _ lucky _ as she could possibly be. 

Lucky is the worst possible term to describe a halfling like her. 

Erlin doesn’t get home until later than she expected, so Egwene wraps the sandwich she made him in foil and puts it away for later, then goes outside and smokes a cigarette on the porch while she waits for him to get back. 

When her little brother does finally get home (she assumes he walked back from the Upper Galaderon tram station), he seems exhausted and a little bit sad, so she walks inside and silently holds out the sandwich she made him, and they sit on the porch together for a while. 

Egwene waits until Erlin’s done, leaning back against the railing, and asks, “So how was it?” 

He laughs derisively. “Bad.”

“The fuck do you mean ‘bad’?” she asks, tilting her head to the side. “Weren’t you with, like, Beverly?”

“I should’ve been!” Erlin says, throwing his hands up in the air. “It should’ve been a cool campout in Moonstone where we did some cooking and stuff, but we ended up kinda getting kidnapped by bullywugs?” 

Egwene rolls up her sleeves and reaches for the bow still slung across her back. “I’m going to go kill Denny.” 

“Don’t!” he exclaims, though he laughs a little. “I’m fine, dude. Bev was late, so he found out that the three of us had gone missing and he met up with these two super cool older scoutmasters; one’s an elf and her name is Moonshine and one’s a human and his name is Hardwon, and they like, totally saved us, Egwene. It was kinda cool, but also I felt really bad that they had to save us and we couldn’t even do anything.”

She nods, letting go of her bow and relaxing against the railing. “Huh. Hope I get to meet this Hardwon and Moonshine someday. They don’t sound like Green Knights.” 

“Oh, they’re not! That’s why they’re so cool.” Erlin smiles a little bit, then taps his fingers against the railing and sighs. “It was just bad because I didn’t want Bev to keep having to rescue me.” 

“Uh-huh,” Egwene says, studying her nails. “How is that dipshit, anyways?” 

“Don’t call him that, he’s cool,” he protests, blushing a little bit. “He’s getting a lot better at paladin stuff. He’s so--” Erlin cuts himself off abruptly, staring down at the ground. “Nevermind. Just don’t make fun of Bev, okay?” 

She just smiles and looks off into the city, the lights of upper Galaderon flickering in the night sky. “I make no promises.” 

They’re silent for a while before Erlin speaks up and asks, his voice low, “What would you tell me if I told you I was gay?” 

“I’d tell you that I was gay too,” Egwene says, putting a hand on her little brother’s shoulder, “and I’d tell you to join the club.” 

“What if I told you I might be in love with Beverly?” he asks, even quieter. 

She just sighs. “I think you’d be one of the last two people in Bahumia to know.”

“I don’t deserve him.” 

“I think you do.” 

“What if I don’t, Egwene?” he asks bitterly. “What if I try and do something romantic and he just rejects me? I couldn’t deal with that.” 

Egwene clicks her tongue and pulls her brother in a little closer. “Beverly looks at you like you’re the only person on this stupid fucking planet, you moron. And if he does break your heart, I don’t suppose he’s figured out how to dodge arrows yet, has he?” 

Erlin laughs a little at that and hugs his sister tight. She reluctantly hugs him back as he says, “Thanks, sis. Please don’t shoot Beverly though. I still really like him.” 

“It’s not my problem who gets in the way of my bow when I’m shooting it.” 

“ _ Egwene. _ ”

She rolls her eyes. “Fine. I won’t.” 

“I love you, sis.” 

“I love you too, little bro.” 

Even hours after Erlin goes inside for the night, Egwene is still sitting on the porch railing, leaning against a wooden post and thinking about how lucky she is--not that she’s a Green Knight, not that she’s one of the most talented archers in Galaderon--but that she has an idiot little brother who cares about her and trusts her, and that at the very least, he can still have a normal sorta life.

She’d never say it out loud, but she’d trade the world in if it meant that Erlin got to have a normal life. 

Egwene didn’t really get to, after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> lichen, commerce, and scribble, or leave a comment or kudos if you agreed!!
> 
> hit me up on tumblr [@maple-keenes] or twitter [@maplekeenes] if you wanna talk!!!


End file.
